APOSTOLATE. - 1) In its proper and literal sense it generally means the work of one who consecrates himself entirely to the diffusion of religious, moral and civil truths. But in a stricter and etymological sense, the a. is the religious and supernatural power that Our Lord Jesus Christ conferred on twelve of his disciples, called by Him "apostles," that is, "sent," because they were sent by Him to the various parts of the earth to announce the evangelical law and the Christian faith. Among the Jews the Greek word a. was used to indicate a commission, called precisely that of the "apostles of the Synagogue," which consisted of men authorized and dispatched by the high priest to the various provinces to exact the collection of money from the compatriots of the diaspora, or to regulate discipline there (v. APOSTOLI).
In ancient ecclesiastical practice, a. was generally the name given to the whole episcopate, since individual bishops are direct descendants and successors of the apostles in the evangelical ministry and magisterium.
2) The official a. in the Church contains in itself the faculty and also the obligation, for one who is invested with it: a) to instruct with supernatural authority in the truths of the faith; b) to administer canonically the Sacraments in order to communicate to souls the grace of which Jesus Christ made them ministers; c) to govern one's own flock, promoting and requiring from the faithful the observance of the divine law; d) to dictate norms and make positive laws, according to the circumstances of times and places; e) to exorcise, when needed, with superior authority, Satan and the evil spirits, a faculty conferred on the apostles by Jesus Christ in confirmation of the truths preached and taught.
The spirit of a. in the faithful is the fruit of charity toward God; for it is not possible to love God sincerely and strongly without striving in some way to make Him better known and loved. In this sense the a. is the flowering of the love of God, which demonstrates that every true Christian necessarily becomes an apostle of good.
Bibliography3 works
Iginio Tarocchi